Wheat Allergy

Wheat allergy is another of the top three most inconvenient allergies [soy, corn, wheat]~ Jacob had Wheat and Soy added to his allergy list on the same day! It literally eliminated his main foods at the time: Cheerios, dinosaur chicken nuggets, soy milk, and toast!~ as well as crackers, cookies, most babyfood, and PASTA! So I can relate to the frustration of having this on the allergy list! Now, the good news is that there are so many alternatives available locally these days. I am sure will find many of them in your local grocery store. You can also find options available at Whole Foods, Navan Foods online. You can even get them on Amazon.com!

I have two favorite allergy cookbooks. If you have not ordered this already, I suggest you do so! The Allergen-Free Baker’s Handbook by Cybele Pascal. Available on Amazon~ http://www.amazon.com/Allergen-Free-Bakers-Handbook-Cybele-Pascal/dp/1587613484 [no, I don’t get a commission! 😉 ] I love her cookbooks! Her recipes are for wheat-gluten-dairy-egg-soy-tree nut and sesame- Free foods. She offers great lists of ingredients, what they are, how to use them, and where to find them; as well as substitutions. You will also find recipes for Bread, Cookies, and Pie Crust ~that my husband claims is the best he has ever had! You can also find her on Facebook, and her website~ She has a recipe for dinner rolls in her cookbook that are GREAT! I make up a batch, and freeze them, then just take one out at mealtime, microwave for 30 seconds, and feed to Jacob.

The second book I recommend is the Learning to Bake Allergen-Free by Colette Martin. Read my review of her book here.

There are a LOT of Pasta alternatives available, rice noodles, brown rice noodles, corn pasta, and quinoa. You can usually find these at your local grocery stores or Whole Foods.

Some of the Flour products you will want to buy are: Xanthan gum, potato starch flour, Tapioca flour, white rice flour, and perhaps coconut flour [I love using it for cookies]. When it comes to baking wheat-free, the trick is that you first make a flour concoction mixing the products I just listed~ I have had very good luck with the recipes from the Cybele Pascal cookbooks. I find it saves money making breads, etc myself, plus I know and can control what goes in them, and portion size [I make toddler-sized dinner rolls for Jacob and freeze them! Less waste that way!]

Ian’s brand prepared food, available at Whole Foods and some local groceries, offers a variety of products that are clearly labeled with what they are free of~ BUT make sure you check them carefully because NOT all of their products are wheat-soy-egg-dairy, etc.- free. They may be free of all things or only a few! so again- READ LABELS! 🙂 They have Chicken tenders, chicken nuggets, fish sticks, french toast sticks, pizza, and Mac & NO cheese, -to name a few we have tried.

NOTE to Parents: PLAY-DOH contains WHEAT!!!

It is surprising how many random things have wheat in them! ~ like most prepared foods, including frozen chicken nuggets, fish sticks, etc; soy sauce, or even sweet potato french fries! Check the brand of Chicken and Beef broth you use~ These often have dairy, soy and wheat in them! You MUST READ LABELS!!!~I know I keep repeating this, but there is nothing more frustrating than getting home from an expensive shopping trip, then realizing you bought the wrong food, or got something that contains your allergy trigger!

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Disclaimer

Information on this site is solely my opinion and is not is not intended to replace any medical advice or doctors orders. You should always consult your doctor with any medical concerns. Always check labels of foods I recommend as companies can and do change manufacturing and ingredients. All words and photos are my own and are copyrighted. Please do not use or repost without attribution and/or permission.